The invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to power connectors and electromagnetic interference (EMI) suppression connectors.
In general, an electrical connector includes a dielectric housing that includes a plurality of contact cavities that hold a plurality of terminal contacts. An electrical connector typically is designed for mating with a complementary connector such that terminal contacts of the respective connectors engage to establish an electrical connection.
One particular type of electrical connector is a receptacle connector designed for receiving an electrical pin. Such connector designs are commonly used for power connector applications and for high frequency data or signal transmission as in telecommunications applications or with computers or other electronic devices where EMI shielding is desirable. In many of these applications, the connectors are mounted on printed circuit boards.
In at least one known receptacle connector, spring arms are cantilevered from the interior of the connector body and extend into the pin or contact cavity. A contact portion on the spring arm extends transversely into the pin cavity to engage the pin. In the case of power connections, the pressure applied to the contacts from the spring arms facilitates and maintains the connection. In the case of EMI suppression, a multiplicity of contacts in close proximity to one another is advantageous for high frequency shielding.
However, heretofore, the contact arms have experienced problems as they loose their resiliency over a period of time and are easily damaged or deformed by careless insertion of the pins into the terminal cavity.
One alternative connector contact is in the form of a canted coil spring as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,144 to Balsells. The Balsells patent describes a garter-type axially resilient coil spring that includes a plurality of coils which are connected in a clock-wise direction. Each coil has a leading portion and a trailing portion, where the trailing portion is along an inside diameter of the garter-type axially resilient coil spring and the leading portion is along an outside diameter of the garter-type axially resilient coil spring. The Balsells patent describes a method for making the garter-type axially resilient coil spring that includes the step of winding a wire to produce coils canted with respect to a centerline of the coil spring, with each coil having a leading portion and a trailing portion. The method includes winding the wire so that the leading portion is disposed to a line normal to the centerline of the garter-type axially resilient spring and the trailing portion is disposed at a back angle to the normal line. The back angle is adjusted to achieve a preselected resiliency. Thereafter, the two ends of the wound wire are attached forming a garter type axially resilient coil spring.
However, the coil spring of the Balsells patent has certain disadvantages. The coils are formed through a wire winding process that is complex and requires extensive manufacturing equipment and time. Consequently, the coil spring is expensive to produce.
Thus a need remains for a contact and a method of manufacturing of such a contact that is more cost effective.